


A Chance

by amirosebooks



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Detective Dean Winchester, Ex-Military Castiel, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Minor Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, The Roadhouse, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 10:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16173380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amirosebooks/pseuds/amirosebooks
Summary: For the DeanCas Writing Challenge September 2018. Prompt "I would be lucky to even have a chance with you.”





	A Chance

To Castiel’s surprise, The Roadhouse was overflowing with visitors when he arrived. The old roadside bar didn’t exactly scream romance in his opinion. A couple dressed in red and pink were getting handsy with each other just outside the door into the bar. Castiel had to pull his trench coat a little tighter to keep from brushing up against them as he made his way inside. Someone, probably Ash, had hung red and pink metallic heart garland from the ceiling throughout the bar. Tendrils brushed against the heads of couples dancing and fluttered in the breeze from the ceiling fans and air conditioning vents.

Jo caught his eye from across the bar where she was taking a small table’s orders. She smiled in his direction before turning her attention back to her customers. Ash and Ellen were stationed behind the bar flirting with people and filling drink orders, respectfully.

Classic rock love songs blasted through the old speakers from the jukebox in the corner. Castiel smiled to himself when he realized he recognized the song as one of Dean’s favorites.

Thoughts of Dean made him frown as he looked around the bar. The text he’d received from his best friend was jumbled and felt off in tone. Castiel knew Dean was supposed to be on a date tonight with someone Sam knew from work. Dean’s remorseful text implied the date did not go well.

Finally, Castiel caught sight of Dean huddled over a bottle of cheap whiskey in a little two person booth on the far wall of the bar.

A throat cleared to Castiel’s right. He tore his attention from Dean just in time to catch the cup of coffee Ellen was trying to push into his hands.

“See if you can cheer him up, will ya?” Ellen asked.

“I’ll do my best,” Castiel said.

Ellen studied him for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll have Jo bring out some burgers for the both of you.”

Cas carefully carried the coffee mug over to Dean’s table. Dean was too preoccupied with staring at the bottle like a sailor watching the shore.

“This seat taken?” Castiel asked.

Dean scowled at the bottle before beginning to turn toward Castiel. “What part of I wanna be al-- Cas? What are you doing here?”

“Playing waiter, apparently,” Castiel said as he pushed the coffee towards Dean. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I? Are you waiting for your date?”

“Huh? Oh, no,” Dean shook his head as he looked between the empty glass next to the whiskey bottle and the steaming mug of coffee. He grabbed the coffee and took a sip. “The date was over hours ago. Did I... Did I drunk dial you or something?”

“Text, actually,” Castiel said. “You weren’t very coherent, but I understood enough to assume you could use someone sober to drive you home tonight.”

“Saving my ass again, huh?” Dean asked. His expression was pained for a moment as he stared at the tabletop between them before he forced a smile and looked at the crowd around them. “You sure you wanna be stuck with my sorry ass tonight? There’s plenty of single chicks--and a few single dudes--hanging around here tonight. You might get lucky. Besides, I can catch a cab or arm wrestle Ash for the pool table after last call.”

“I have nowhere else I’d rather be,” Castiel said. He didn’t know what was making him feel brave enough to be honest about that, but there was a certain level of relief in him once the words were out there in the open.

Dean stared back at him with an expression Castile couldn’t quite pin down. It had hints of the reverence and extreme gratitude Castiel had first seen on Dean’s face when they met.

Ten years before, Dean was working an undercover case for the Kansas City Police Department when he was kidnapped by a rival gang and held hostage. The rival gang was linked to several terrorist organizations and had setups in several off shore locations, one of which they kept Dean at. Castiel was still in the military at the time working for an elite special ops force. He and his team were charged with infiltrating the operations of the gang that held Dean and recovering the information they had on the terrorist organizations they worked with. Finding Dean while they were there was pure chance. Some might even call it fate.

Technically, it was Castiel’s entire team who were responsible for rescuing Dean from his captors, but Dean and his family always gave the credit to Castiel alone.

The two of them grew close after Dean was returned to the states and his job with KCPD. When Castiel’s contract with the government was up, he took a job at the police department and became Dean’s work partner shortly after. The last few years Castiel had spent by Dean’s side were the best of his life. Even if they were only friends.

Jo stopped by with heaping plates of burgers and fries. When Dean spotted the plates he looked at his pseudo sister like she’d hung the moon. A typical Dean Winchester expression when food, especially surprise food, was involved. After Jo returned to tending to the crowd of couples, Castiel and Dean ate in relative silence. The cheap bottle of whiskey sat off to the side, ignored.

Eventually, Castiel’s curiosity got the better of him. “What happened to your date?”

Dean looked at him with furrowed brows as he shoveled fries into his mouth. He paused mid-bite like he was struggling to remember what Castiel was talking about. Then he nodded to himself. Without swallowing the mouthful of fries, he said, “We didn’t click.”

“Clicking is important to you now?” Castiel asked. “I seem to remember a tall tale or two about your Valentine’s Day adventures. It didn’t sound like there was a lot of clicking going on then.”

Dean snorted.

“She was fine. Pretty, nice, respectable,” Dean said. “I think she was a veterinarian or a dog walker or something. She was definitely more like Sam’s type than mine. A nice girl who loves animals and lives in a safe little bubble. I don’t know why Sam thought we’d get along very well. A messy cop with a perfect suburban lady like that.”

Castiel hummed.

“And here I thought you were looking for a Stepford Wife of your own,” Castiel said. “I guess i should tell the Girl Scout leader and the physical therapist ladies I had waiting on standby that you’ve changed your mind.”

Dean chuckled.

“I don’t know, man,” Dean said. “I’m just not in the mood for Valentine’s Day this year. What with Sam meeting Eileen, Bobby and Ellen finally getting together. I’m pretty sure my mom is dating again. Hell, even Charlie has a girlfriend she refuses to introduce to me yet. I just...”

Dean shook his head and returned to shoveling fries into his mouth.

“Ah, the great lone wolf, Dean Winchester is getting lonely,” Castiel said with a soft, teasing smile on his face. He knocked the toe of his boots against the side of Dean’s foot beneath the table to reassure Dean he didn’t mean anything mean by the teasing.

Dean rolled his eyes and nudged Castiel’s foot in return.

“All I’m saying is that pretty soon everyone I know is going to be settled down while I’m still out here alone and aging,” Dean said. “Next thing i know you’re going to be hanging out with some hot piece of ass instead of me. Then I _really_ won’t know what to do with myself on Friday nights.”

“I think my days of chasing hot pieces of ass are long over, Dean,” Castiel said.

Dean scoffed. “Are you kidding? You could stand up right now, announce you were single and ready to mingle in the middle of this bar and have ten people clobbering each other for a chance with you.”

Castiel frowned. “Do you think you wouldn’t encourage the same kind of reaction?”

“Please,” Dean said with a grimace. “I’m the kind of guy who is good for a little backseat action. I’m not the kind of guy you take home to meet the parents or imagine a future with. That’s Sammy’s gig. I mean, shit, even being divorced did nothing to keep the women from flocking to him like flies.”

Anger burned hot in Castiel’s chest as he watched his best friend verbally kick himself while he was down. Dean’s opinion of himself was awful, it always had been from the stories he’d heard from Dean’s family and friends, but it always got worse when he was sad about something. Few things made Castiel angrier than listening to Dean speak ill of himself.

“Dean, if that dog walker didn’t realize how lucky she was to meet you and have a chance to get to know then she was clearly an idiot,” Castiel said. “And anyone in this bar, or any bar, would turn you down is a fool. Anyone would be lucky to have you, Dean. You’re an incredible person and if other people can’t see it that’s on them.”

“Yeah, well, apparently everyone else is an idiot, because you’re the only one here with me,” Dean said. “Hell, most of the time you’re the only one there.”

Castiel studied his plate. “I’d be lucky to get a chance with you, too.”

Silence settled like a blanket of heavy snow around them. Castiel’s eyes widened when he realized he’d said that last thought out loud. He kept his attention on the splatter of ketchup on is plate. Tension bundled in his shoulders.

“Do you mean that?” Dean asked. “Do you... Would you want a chance with me?”

Castiel swallowed before meeting Dean’s eyes. “I’d be a fool to turn you down.”

The smile that spread across Dean’s face was like the sun rising over a nightmare filled night. Dean jumped from his seat while wrestling with his wallet. He threw a few bills on the table before grabbing Castiel’s hand.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Dean said. He tugged Castiel to his feet and they stood there next to the little booth for a moment just staring into each other’s eyes. Dean waggled his eyebrows and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “Looks like this messy cop scored himself a hot piece of ass to take home on Valentine’s Day after all.”

Castiel returned Dean’s grin before pulling Dean in for a kiss.

Half the bar--Ash, Jo and Ellen being the loudest--whooped and hollered in the background in celebration of them two of them finally figuring their shit out.


End file.
